Hospitals may lose more Medicaid funds to help erase budget deficit

From Fosters.com:

DOVER — Many of the state's largest hospitals may lose millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursement funds as part of state lawmakers' efforts to erase a projected $100 million budget deficit by the end of June.

Steve Ahnen, president of the New Hampshire Hospital Association in Concord, said the result could be devastating if a provision in House Bill 30 that calls for the elimination of billing Medicaid for facilities fees at hospital-owned physician practices is approved.

"Unemployment and Medicaid enrollment are increasing as more New Hampshire residents need help paying for health care, but reimbursement continues to fail to cover the costs of that care," said Ahnen in a prepared statement. "Hospitals' financial health and ability to continue to serve their communities during an economic crisis depends in part upon adequate funding from Medicaid."

Ahnen said Medicaid reimbursement rates are already much lower than private insurance rates. When hospitals bill Medicaid for the care patients receive and a facilities fee, Ahnen said they are trying to recoup their costs.

He said hospitals were already dealt a major blow when state lawmakers approved Gov. John Lynch's request in November to cut $30 million from Medicaid reimbursement fees.